My old boss Nancy (I like to call her Fancy Nancy because she's fab) and I had talked about taking a cooking class to learn how to make paella for a while (we had gone to a class before to learn how to make osso bucco but it wasn't hands-on and she wound up not getting a space in the Julie and Julia cooking class I had taken). We came across a class through Sur La Table and quickly signed up for it before it filled up. We learned how to make 2 types of paella and a kale salad. While you're working through the recipes (that you get to bring home) you also learn kitchen techniques. During this class I learned how to mince garlic using a microplane (a handlheld grater that makes fine pieces), that I shouldn't be using minced garlic from a jar (color me embarrassed)and how to handle the knife when chopping. Oh, and I got to use one of those funny gadgets that peels garlic cloves for you! And use fancy knives!
Coolest part of taking a cooking class? All the ingredients are already measured out and YOU DON"T HAVE TO CLEAN UP! Yep...that to me makes it awesome...slop stuff anywhere, it doesn't matter they have volunteers to clean it up!
They broke all the students into 2 groups and we all took turns with the different tasks.
Paella is defined as: a Spanish dish of rice, saffron, chicken, seafood, etc., cooked and served in a large shallow pan
We made the first paella, a seafood paella, and then while it was in the oven we made the salad. We took an eating break and then made the second paella that had chicken and sausage.
We left with full tummies and some more kitchen knowledge...and had a fun time doing it!
No comments:
Post a Comment